“THE ARCHITECTURE OF TASTE”
Written by Reem Khamis & Wesam Masoud
Nestled in a quiet side street in one of downtown’s liveliest blocks, an unassuming icon stands in wait for rediscovery. Since its completion in 1910 the Tamara Building, as it is commonly known, has witnessed the many iterations of Cairene art and culture within its Neo-Renaissance facade. In its early days, it housed the creme de la creme of high society in a golden age of lavish living and intellectual enlightenment. Later, it provided safe haven for emerging artists in a time of socio-economic strife and cultural crisis. Today, after a period of dormancy, it stands restored, reinvigorated and ready to bask in the limelight once more, finding new life as “Tamara Haus” - a center for art, design and exceptional hospitality.
A MULTI-LAYERED CELEBRATION
FEB 24, 2024 [02-24-2024] a night of many interconnected celebrations where the varied disciplines of art and culture converged. Actors, artists, designers, connoisseurs gathered at 17 Gawad Hosny St. to celebrate the milestone 25th anniversary of Alchemy Design Studio by launching Alchemy Experience, a new brand of immersive storytelling and creative experiences, with the opening of their latest project Tamara Haus.
The building, part of Al Ismaelia’s portfolio of restored Downtown landmarks, is now home to a multi-disciplinary experience of lifestyle, retail, and hospitality featuring leading local design houses and retailers with ‘The Lobby’ at its heart, which is where we meet.
UNTOLD STORIES
On the ground floor of Tamara Haus, in a room seemingly out of time, the first story unfolds. ‘The Lobby’ is not only a meeting point for travelers, on this night it was a stage for stories forgotten and untold. Powder pink and golden script accents took guests back to a time when discovery came solely through physical interactions and shared experiences, while the evening’s culinary offering was designed to pique curiosities and excite conversation. The curtains are drawn back, revealing an edible installation titled “The Architecture of Taste” - a study of the intersection between design and gastronomy as interpreted through the shared perspectives of both the chef and designer.
Taste is rarely, if ever, considered when experiencing a designed construct. While we take in a space or monument with all our other senses, we rarely question the influence the architecture might have had on the evolution of cuisine, or more directly, on our perception of taste. How does the design of a space influence our eating pleasure - conversely, how can our eating pleasure influence our perception of the space?
In a sense, a chef is also an architect, creating edible constructs designed to touch on all five senses, subconsciously building on the same foundational pillars that sustain timeless design - form, structure, texture, scale and spirit.
For this night at ‘The Lobby’, we sought to pull these thoughts to the forefront of the experience, exploring the intersections of design and gastronomy through the perspective of four creative chefs and mixologist Eric Labat. Chefs Farah El Charkawy, Irfan Malek, Mostafa Seif and Wesam Masoud translated the concept from page to plate across a sprawling tablescape modeled after Tamara Haus and its historic city block.
Each of the chefs contributed items that formed a larger tasting menu to showcase the role of design in cuisine. Guests were welcomed with the first movement: A mock-up of the city block immediately inhabited by Tamara Haus itself, with a quartet of tartlet shells filled with varying tartares and miniature potato terrines set atop the buildings. A wheatgrass garden was craftily placed at street-level to enhance the visual representation of the urban locale.
The second movement swept to the left, with a bountiful cheese and fruit table, a baguette candelabra and a festive tower of Physalis and Gooseberries. The third movement brought a trio of protein-based preparations in artfully employed shapes and patterns: Shrimp and Avocado terrine discs stood impossibly on the Y-Axis, while a Tuna & Foie Gras composition occupied the X-axis. Square Inch Chicken represented scale and pattern on a playful chessboard, with an artful detail in the arrangement representing the different ranks of the pieces on the board. A sweet finale arrived in the form of Orange and Nigella Bricks, arranged as a pyramid reaching an impressive height for such a delicate sponge cake. Finally, trays of cubist fruit and a Lemon tart expressed mathematical scale through progressively smaller platters that preserved the overall pattern.
WHEN WE EAT, WE EXPLORE
THE ARCHITECTURE OF TASTE
In its first outing during Cairo Food Week 2023, Michelin-starred Italian chef Paolo Griffa and Egyptian chef Youssef El Ebiary explored the Italian architecture of Cairo and the impact it had on local cuisine during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Over a 6-course menu, they presented dishes inspired by the arabesque patterns of Abdeen Palace, the colorful striped facades of Heliopolis, and the intricate network of Downtown’s streets to name a few. With each rendition of the concept, we seek to dive deeper into the connections that stretch between design and gastronomy. How the two mediums continue to influence one another in an infinite loop of creation and inspiration.
Food is most commonly viewed as a complimentary element in the world of experiential design, it’s part of the art direction and takes its inspiration from a concept loosely. To present a new vision of immersive experiences where the food is a key component and leads the design narrative is a task that requires support and faith in the creative. With each new experience, the support grows - our table that once held four seats is in continual expansion to include the new partners who join it with vigor and excitement for the future. Emaar is one such partner, enabling our designs to transform spaces into timeless gems, and our stories to preserve their heritage and beauty to be shared with new generations.
When We Eat is a Flavor Republic company driven by the powerhouse duo of Hoda El-Sherif and Sherif Tamim.
Alchemy Design Studios consists of KYME by Kari Mekhtigian, MF & Associates by Mohamed Fares,
Else Lab by Eman Hussein, and Alchemy Architecture. Alchemy Experience is their latest enterprise.
